He’d thoroughly appreciate the remaining $350 billion of the TARP money to bailout failing companies now. Wasn’t he talking about leaving that for the next administration to throw away? Yeah, he did:

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said he doesn’t plan to ask Congress for the rest of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout fund before leaving office next month, but indicated that could change if there is an emergency in financial markets.

“We have a lot of firepower” now,” Paulson told CNBC in a live interview. “We’ve got what we need right now.”

And now?

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson urged Congress to release the second half of the $700 billion financial rescue fund after the government exhausted the first $350 billion in less than three months.

Craptastic.